Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division

The Principal Staff Officer (PSO) is the head of the Armed Forces Division (AFD) of Bangladesh. The position is held by a three-star lieutenant general of the Bangladesh Army, who exercises day-to-day command and control over the Bangladesh Armed Forces on behalf of the Prime Minister, who serves as the de facto Supreme Commander and holds the portfolio of the Ministry of Defence. The PSO holds the status and authority equivalent to a senior secretary of the Government of Bangladesh and heads the AFD, which functions as the principal national command authority and joint coordinating headquarters for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

The AFD operates from Dhaka Cantonment and enjoys ministerial status, performing functions parallel to the Ministry of Defence in peacetime while serving as the Joint Command Centre (JCC) during wartime. The current incumbent is Lieutenant General Mir Mushfiqur Rahman, who assumed office on 22 February 2026.

History

The origins of the Principal Staff Officer position trace back to the post-independence period. In December 1978, the Armed Forces Division was established as the Commander-in-Chief's Secretariat under the Ministry of Defence to centralize command and control of the armed forces.

On 10 November 1986, it was renamed the Supreme Command Headquarters. In 1989, it was designated a full Division and separated from the Ministry of Defence under the Rules of Business. Following the restoration of parliamentary democracy in 1991, it was restructured and renamed the Armed Forces Division (AFD) and brought under the Prime Minister's Office by October 1994. The Table of Organization & Equipment (TO&E) was revised in 1992 (introducing four directorates) and again on 3 June 2014 (adding a fifth directorate to reach the current structure).

Organization

The AFD comprises the Principal Staff Officer's Office, five directorates (Operations & Plans, Training, Civil-Military Relations, Administration & Logistics, and Intelligence), and an Administrative Company.

List of Principal Staff Officers

The following is a list of officers who have served as Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh since its establishment in 1972.

Principal Staff Officers of Bangladesh Armed Forces Division
No.	Name	Rank	Term start	Term end	Duration
1	Abul Hasanat Mohammad Abdullah	Brigadier General	December 1972	18 January 1976	N/A
2	Nurul Islam Shishu	Major general	19 January 1976	11 December 1980	4 years, 327 days
3	Mir Shawkat Ali	Lieutenant general	12 December 1980	30 June 1985	4 years, 200 days
4	Imamuzzaman Chowdhury Bibi	Major general	18 December 1990	11 September 1996	5 years, 268 days
5	Abdus Salam RCDS, PSC	Major general	15 September 1996	10 January 1999	2 years, 117 days
6	Mohammad Subid Ali Bhuiyan	Major general	12 January 1999	12 January 2004	5 years
7	A I M Mostafa Reza Noor, PSC	Major general	12 April 2004	6 June 2006	2 years
8	Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, NDC, PSC	Major general	8 June 2006	5 June 2007	~11 months
9	Masud Uddin Chowdhury, NDU, PSC	Lieutenant general	June 2007	2 June 2008	1 year
10	Abdul Mubeen, NDC, PSC	Lieutenant general	4 June 2008	12 June 2009	1 year, 8 days
11	Abdul Wadud, NDC, PSC	Lieutenant general	13 June 2009	1 January 2013	3 years, 203 days
12	Shafiqul Haque OSP, NDC, PSC	Lieutenant general	1 January 2013	24 June 2015	2 years, 174 days
13	Md. Mainul Islam, AFWC, PSC	Lieutenant general	1 July 2015	31 January 2016	214 days
14	Md. Mahfuzur Rahman RCDS, NDC, AFWC, PSC, PhD	Lieutenant general	1 February 2016	24 November 2020	4 years, 298 days
15	Waker-Uz-Zaman SBP, OSP, SGP, PSC	Lieutenant general	24 November 2020	29 December 2023	3 years, 35 days
16	Mizanur Rahman Shamim BP, OSP, NDC, PSC	Lieutenant general	29 December 2023	6 August 2024	235 days
17	S. M. Kamrul Hassan BSP	Lieutenant general	22 August 2024	—	1 year, 212 days
18	Mir Mushfiqur Rahman	Lieutenant general	22 February 2026	Incumbent	—

Abul Hasanat Mohammad AbdullahArmed Forces DivisionBangladesh Armed ForcesBangladesh ArmyBrigadier GeneralDhaka CantonmentImamuzzaman Chowdhury BibiLieutenant generalLieutenant general (Bangladesh)Major generalMinistry of Defence (Bangladesh)Mir Mushfiqur RahmanMir Shawkat AliMizanur Rahman ShamimNational Committee on Security AffairsNurul Islam ShishuPrime Minister of BangladeshPrime Minister's Office (Bangladesh)S. M. Kamrul HassanSeat of governmentTerm of officeWaker-Uz-Zaman

Backlinks (6)

Armed Forces DivisionBangladesh Armed ForcesDirectorate General of Forces IntelligenceList of serving generals of the Bangladesh ArmyMir Mushfiqur RahmanPrincipal Staff Officer (Bangladesh)

External links (16)

https://afd.gov.bd/about-afd

https://afd.gov.bd/history-of-afd

https://afd.gov.bd/pso-afd

https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/73db55c88502

scholar.google.com/...

https://www.afd.gov.bd/

https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/363142

www.dhakatribune.com/...

www.google.com/...

www.jstor.org/...

www.tbsnews.net/...

www.thedailystar.net/...

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📊 Wikidata

Subject Facts

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Label: Principal Staff Officer

Description: Bangladeshi government position

Founded: December 1978

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Main Menu

Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division

History

Organization

List of Principal Staff Officers

See also